The Angelic Pin
by CityofClockworkAngels
Summary: Clary and Simon are both picked to be in te 72nd anual Hunger Games. They meet new people and form aliances. The question is, who will be the victor? Sizzy, Clace, and eventual Malec
1. chapter 1

**Hello guys, so I am starting a new fanfic. It is a Mortal Instruments and Hunger Games crossover. Please review and tell me if you like it.**

Katniss POV

I pulled back the bowstring and let the arrow fly. It hit the small deer in the neck. Not exactly the eye, but good enough.

I swung the bow around my shoulder and trotted over to grab the dead animal. Pulled out the arrow and wiped the blood off on the grass. I then stuffed it back into my quiver. It would be hard getting this one to the Hob.

I lifted it and put it on my other shoulder.

While walking back to the fence, I stopped for a short break when I had to hide my bow and sheath of arrows.

I was losing daylight. I kept walking until I heard a rustle in the bushes. Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw nothing.

I stepped closer and noticed something blueish. Then out of the bushes stepped Gale.

"Hey, Catnip," he said to me. I put the deer down.

"God, you scared me!" I exclaimed, but not too loud.

"Sorry, I hid because I didn't see you. All I could see was the deer."

"Oh, well, it's getting dark. Did you get anything?" I asked.

"Two rabbits." He bent down and picked up the dead rabbits. They were decently sized and could sell for a good amount of money.

"Want to go to the Hob now?"

"Yeah," he said putting his slingshot in his back pocket. "Let's go."

We walked all the way to the Hob, not saying much. When we arrived, we parted ways to sell our catches.

I got more than the usual amount for my small deer. It was probably because they felt bad for the kids. Tomorrow was the reaping. I put my name in a few more times than last year, but so so many times that I really had to worry. I would live to go and win and get the money and food, but who would feed Prim and my mom?

With the money I had, I bought some soup and dried fruit. I had a little bit left and I knew if I kept it, my mom would take it and wouldn't buy anything useful with it. I suddenly remembered Clary's birthday was in a few days. We always bought each other something small, even if it was just a piece of candy. We only got what we could afford. I looked around the Hob and saw an older woman selling jewelry. She had many different kinds of things, pins made of rusted metal, bracelets of buttons, and necklaces of little rocks. I walked up to the woman.

"Hello," she said. "Are you looking for something special?"

"No. Just a small present for my friend." I looked at everything she had laid there. One thing stood out to me the most. The little red-painted pin made out of a tin can. It had a little symbol painted on it in black.

"What is that?" I asked her.

"That, child, is an Angelic Power rune. It helps ward off demons and evils."

"I'll get that," I said.

Clary POV

I woke up groggily. It was cold in the small drafty house we had.

My mom walked into our one big bedroom. "Good morning, honey." She smiled.

}Oh right, I thought, the reaping.

"Luke is working until the reaping, so you probably won't see him til afterwards," she said wistfully.

I nodded.

I got out of bed as my mom walked out of the room. I put on my nicest clothes, a short-sleeved, long-skirted faded salmon dress. It wasn't much, but it was all I had.

I braided my hair over the top and left it down on the sides.

I walked out of the bedroom and into the main room of our house. I sat at the table and started I think, }If I got picked, would I even survive the first day? I could throw knives, but that was it. I had never killed anything but animals, how could I kill a human?

All I knew was, I could not get picked.

Katniss POV

I stood by Clary in the bunch of kids gathered in front of the stage. She hugged me and gave me a sad smile. I'd been getting those a lot today.

Clary glanced over at the boys' area. She locked eyes with her best friend, Simon. I only really knew him from Clary. Clary was my only friend besides Gale. She was also two years older than me.

Effie Trinket walked onto the small stage. Her dress was a mixture of creams and scarlets. Effie had her hair pulled back into an eccentric braided bun with ruby streaks and ribbons intertwined. She said her introduction and played the video. I had zoned out for most of that.

"...May the odds be ever in your favor," Effie said, "Ladies first."

She dipped her crimson-nailed hand into the glass jar of dreadful parchment. Out she pulled a name. The name of a person who would likely die.

"Clarissa Fairchild." Clary's eyes visibly widened. As did mine.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as she slowed stepped towards the path between the boys and girls. She was entirely speechless.

The peacekeepers stepped in front, in back, and beside her as if she'd run at the first chance she'd get.

Effie smiled at her as she stepped onto the stage. Clary didn't shed a tear; she was always one of the strongest people I'd known.

"Now, the boys." Her hand, yet again, reached into the glass abyss. She let her fingers wander through the sea of papers.

Then, she'd picked one, changing someone's life for the worse.

"Simon Lewis."

Simon walked up onstage. This was when Clary began to cry. Even though she had only let a few hot tears escape, it was enough to show me how truly devastated she was.

 **Thanks for reading!! Please continue to do that XD**


	2. Arriving

**Hey guys, so I am going to rename this to The Angelic Pin now because my friend (Neverflame, thank you) told me that there are like 7 fanfics called the Mortal Games.**

 **I guess I'm not original •_•**

 **But I shall be evermore because I renamed it. XD**

 **Please review!**

Clary POV

I stood in the small white room, pacing back and forth.

The door opened. It was my mom and Luke. My mom ran up to me and hugged me.

"Clary, we don't have much time together before you go, but I want you to know that I love you so, so much. You can win. I know you can."

She smiled at me with tears falling down her face. I had tears in my eyes too.

My mom let me go and kissed me on the cheek. "You'll be great," she said.

Luke walked up to me and gave me a hug. "Use what you know. We've taught you how to hunt well enough. You will win if you use those skills." He looked me sternly in the eye. "We love you, Clary, do t forget that. He stepped back as the peacekeeper opened the door and showed them out.

A minute later, Katniss came through the door. She ran up and hugged me.

"Clary, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry," she said.

"Hey, it's not your fault."

She pressed a small metal item into my hand. It was red with a black symbol. "For your birthday."

"Thank you so much." She looked up at me with tears rolling down her rosy cheeks. "Katniss, look, if I win, I promise you that I will give you some of my winnings and you can come to the Victor's Village any time you want. Okay?"

We both knew that it was very unlikely that I'd win. No one from our district has won since the last Quarter Quell, and that was over twenty years ago.

"Okay," she said. She was still crying, but not as hard now.

"Everything will be alright." I had repeated that phrase until the peacekeeper took Katniss away.

Simon POV

The minute Clary and I met up to go on the train I hugged her. She was shaking in my arms as we stood right by the train.

"I'm sorry, Simon. It shouldn't have been like this."

"Clary, no," I said looking at her "Don't apologize. You didn't do this." I grabbed her by the hand and we walked onto the train suddenly by side.

There was a lot of food in the car we entered. This seemed to be the dining car. There was stew, ribs, soup, salad, buttered buns, and anything else you could imagine.

I was so tempted to sit down and devour it, right then and there. My stomach made a grumbling noise.

"Hello, Clary and Simon." I spun around. It was Effie Trinket. "Haymitch won't be joining us this morning for lunch. He never does," she whispered under her breath. "Well, dig in," she said when she saw us staring at it.

Clary and I both sat down and stacked our plates high.

It seemed like we ate so much, yet we barely made a dent in the big bowls of food. _Was this how big meals were in the Capitol every day while people were starving in the districts_ , I thought.

Throughout the meal, Clary stayed mostly quiet. I did most of the talking when Effie asked questions.

When we were done with our meals, we were shown to our bedrooms. I fell asleep the second my head touched the pillow.

Clary POV

We entered the large building that we would live in until the Games. It was immaculate. Everything was porcelain white. We took an elevator up to the twelfth floor. It was late when we got there so we at dinner and went straight to bed. The next morning we would start training.

I couldn't sleep that night. I had countless nightmares of the games I couldn't get out of my head. All I knew was that this wouldn't be easy.


	3. Training Part 1

**Hello everyone! I am going to keep posting every couple days (if I don't post in five days MAX there is absolutely not excuse)**

 **Thank y'all for reading, please review!**

Clary POV

"Nervous?" I asked Simon.

"How could you tell?"

"Simon," I said turning towards him in the elevator. "We've been best friends since birth, practically. I know you."

The elevator stopped and two people with raven black hair stepped on. The tall boy had deep sapphire blue eyes, wore all black, and crossed his arms as we began to ride down.

"Hello," the girl said. She wore all black too, but her outfit was a little bit more revealing with tight leather pants and a small deep-necked shirt.

"Hi," I replied. Simon was twiddling with his thumbs, a nervous habit he had whenever he saw a girl he thought was cute.

"I'm Isabelle," she held out her hand for me to shake.

"Clary."

I shook her hand and she added, "That's my big brother, Alec." He gave somewhat of a half smile and went back to staring in front of him at the door.

"You came together?" I asked, even though they obviously did.

"Yeah," she looked sad for a moment but went back to being chipper. "And who might you be?" She looked at Simon when she said it.

"Simon," he said looking up at her.

"So what district are you guys from?"

"Twelve," Simon said, yet another one word answer.

"Where are you two from?" I asked trying to be polite.

"We're from six."

The elevator opened up as Isabelle finished answering.

We all walked out to find a huge training room full of all kinds of equipment. There was everything from knives and targets to fire-building and survival skills. Only a few people were there. There was a tall blonde boy alone by the sword fighting simulation. A girl with big brown eyes was trying to climb a man-made tree in the corner of the large room. Her hair was down to her waist in a french braid. Two other boys were racing up a rock wall. One had white-blonde hair and charcoal eyes. The other boy who was considerably shorter and losing, had curly dark hair that looked wet.

Simon looked quite overwhelmed by it all. He just stood there staring at it all.

"Remember what haymitch said. We have to make alliances. Go try to get Isabelle to like you. Then maybe we'd have both her and her brother, if you can talk her into aligning with us," I said. "I'll try to find someone else. Okay?"

"Got it," he said as he started walking towards the area of the training room that looked like some sort of an obstacle course.

I walked towards the blonde girl climbing the tree. There were four other artificial trees nearby. They were each a different type.

I climbed up the oak tree with some grace. I jumped over to the evergreen the girl was in. From the height, I looked down on the rest of the room. There was much more attendance than before.

The blonde boy caught my eye, and I couldn't help but notice his beautiful golden eyes. Even from halfway across the room you could tell he was strong. He'd be next on my alliance hit list.

"How do you climb the tree so well?" she asked, slowly trying to get a little closer to me.

"It's easy if you get the right footholds." she gave me a look of slight disbelief, probably thinking how it could possibly be so easy. "Hi," I said realizing I hadn't introduced myself. "I'm Clary; district twelve."

"Maureen; district ten." She seemed to be thinking for a short minute. "If you help me learn to climb trees, I can teach you something. I know how to build fires, make traps, and…" Maureen thought for a moment. I felt bad; I knew how to do both of those things. "And throw knives." That, I couldn't do.

"I can't throw knives," I said to her.

For the next few hours, Maureen and I switched off teaching each other in those skills. By lunchtime, I had become nearly as good at throwing knives as she was, and Maureen had learned to climb trees like a master.

Isabelle POV

"Hello," someone said from behind me.

It was Simon from earlier.

"Hi," I said as I continued to climb up the cargo net. Once I reached the top I gripped the monkey bars with my already calloused hand. I swung over to grip the next one. My sweaty palm slipped from the bar once the distance between each became too much. I landed hard on the concrete floor with a wince.

Simon asked, "Are you alright."

"Just perfect." I got up and walked over to him. "Do you want to train with me or did you just come over to stare at me?"

"The first option."

Simon walked over to the obstacle where you had to jump from one angled platform to the next. I had tried it before, but I went very slow and only completed it after trying three times.

He jumped from the start to each platform, only landing for a second before he jumped to the next one. The boy from 12 seemed to finish in almost no time.

"Nice," I said trying not to show how impressed I was.

"Thanks," he shyly replied. Simon decided to go climb the rope while I watched him. He could barely get up eight feet.

After he fell to the ground, he said, "Do you want to train with me or did you just come over to stare at me?"

"Your form is terrible."

"What?" He seemed very surprised at my comment.

"Wrap your feet around the rope and hold it between them. Loosen your grip on the rope when you pull up with your arms." He waited until I didn't speak anymore to go and try it.

He gained a considerable length since the first time but eventually started to slide down, and he let go. Simon checked his hands for rope burn. There appeared to be nothing on his hands.

"Don't let go of the rope between your feet until you start pulling up with your arms. Also, you have to kind of step on one of your feet with the other to hold the rope stronger in the middle," I said and gestured for him to try again. This time he succeeded in getting to the top, but just barely.

"Thanks," he said when he got back down.

"No problem. I mean," I said beginning to walk away from him, "If we are going to be allies, you have to at least know how to climb the stupid rope."

He stood there, dumbfounded, at the bottom of the rope.


	4. Training Part 2

**Hey y'all!**

 **Yes, Mgogo knight, I will be putting more Hunger Games characters in, just wait. Also, I'll try to switch up the POVs and put in some Katniss POV**

 **Thanks for reading please review!**

 **Sorry it's kinda short.**

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Clary POV

It probably wasn't the smartest decision to be running right after eating lunch, but I didn't really care.

I ran around the red track for about ten minutes before I saw someone come up beside me. It was the blonde boy from before. The one with the gold eyes.

"Hello," he said matching my pace and running next to me. This boy was much taller than me, but that isn't saying much considering how short I was.

"Hi," I said then added, "I'm Clary; district twelve." I gave him a small smile.

"Jace; district 7."

That was all we'd said until about a half hour later when we were out of breath and leaning against the wall.

"So I'm guessing you came with a friend," Jace said as I was getting water from the small fountain embedded into the wall.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Well you were talking before you started training, strategy for getting allies I suppose. Then before lunch you were talking again, and then after lunch you two were, guess what? Talking. So I figured."

"Oh," I said, not really realizing that I made it so obvious we were friends.

"Yeah."

"So did you come here with someone you know? The tributes from six are brother and sister."

"I thought they looked alike," he'd said more to himself than to me. "And no." He appeared to have just remembered my question. "All I know is her name is Aline."

I nodded my head in response.

"Want to keep going?"

"Alright." I stood up and started to jog which turned into a run.

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Alec POV

I pulled back the bowstring to my cheek and let the arrow fly.

It hit dead center on the human shaped target.

I looked to another one and, pulled out my next arrow. I aimed for the target on the head and released.

This one didn't hit the direct center, but it was still on the bullseye.

"Hi, big brother," Isabelle said from behind me.

"Hi," I said shooting my next arrow.

"Who knew you'd be such a good shot." Izzy seemed impressed.

"Yeah, who was that guy you were talking to earlier?" Putting down the bow, I walked over to her. We started towards the fire-making area to talk.

"His name is Simon, and he's from district 12. He came with the redhead, who seems like a pretty good ally. I saw her throwing knives the other day pretty well, and clearly she can climb trees. I don't know, but, as an ally, we should definitely consider her," then my sister added, "and Simon." She smiled slightly when she said his name.

 _She likes him_ , I thought, but it was irrelevant. _I couldn't think about any of that now. Not until the games are over._

"I trust your judgment," I said as we sat down by all the wood. I took the stick and spun it between my hands quickly. That wood wasn't on fire, much less not even smoking.

The redhead walked over to us where I was struggling to make the fire.

"Try moving your hands faster and going in a downward motion," she suggested. I tried it, and, miraculously, it worked. The wood began to smoke. A small flame then caught.

"Thanks," I murmured. She nodded and walked on toward the simulation section, where she used a katana to wipe out some pixelated beings. I had to admit, she was good. Not what you'd expect from someone her size.

Iz noticed me staring, and said, "She's pretty good. Isn't she?"

"Yeah," I said. I definitely wanted her as an ally.

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Jace POV

"I'm going to be straightforward here. I want you as an ally."

"What, do you want me for my expertise or my charms?" I asked sarcastically. I knew this wasn't the time for sarcasm, but it made me feel slightly less anxious and uptight about this whole situation. The games. Killing. I didn't like thinking about any of it.

She glared at me. "I'm not joking around," Clary said. "I'm serious."

"Okay, I'll be your ally." We both stood outside the simulation area. Clary had just killed all the pixelations with a katana. I had turned away from her just so I could turn back for dramatic effect. "But on one condition," she visibly deflated as I said it. "You have to find someone else to be in this alliance along with you and I. And it can't be you B.F.F. from twelve." Then I added, "Although, he could be in the alliance, too."

Clary nodded, said 'okay,' and walked away.

If I was going to be in an alliance, I was going to need at least four people to have a chance at beating the careers.


	5. Training Part Three

**Hello y'all!**

 **I made this chapter a little long to make up for the last chapter.**

 **Just saying ('cause I always forget) I DO NOT OWN ANY OF CASSIE CLARE'S OR SUZANNE COLLINS'S CHARACTERS. I only own the new character in this chapter: Ellyson. I will mention that all the tributes are Cassie's from one book or another (all Mortal Instruments).**

 **Hope you like it.**

Clary POV

Asking Simon's opinion on things was like chasing your own shadow.

He was always vague about everthing. When he did give you a strait answer, it was a big surprise.

You can imagine my stress when I tried talking about allies with him.

"Do you have any idea who we should have as another ally to get Jace with us?" I turned toward him, sitting on the couch. It was almost midnight and probably should have been sleeping.

He thought for a moment. "I only really talked to Isabelle, and she seemed really nice."

"Simon," I said, "being nice is good and all, but we need an ally who can fight or is smart or has some useful quality."

"Umm," he began to think again. "She is pretty strong and-"

Haymitch cut him off, "So I see you both are talking strategy without me." He didn't have a drink in his hand, which was good.

"Clary just was telling me that one of the tributes from seven was willing to form an alliance with us."

He seemed to have noticed that we weren't as happy as we should be to have just formed an alliance. "And that's bad because…"

"There's one condition." I said, and Haymitch seemed to almost immeadiatly understand. "We have to find at least one other person that is willing to be our ally."

"Any thoughts on who?" he asked. "I mean you have been training with them for two days."

"I met the siblings from district six."

When I realized he wasn't going to say any more on the subject, I added in, "I saw the brother, Alec, at the archery area, and he was really good. Bullseyes almost every time."

"Anyone else?" Haymitch didn't seem to like the we'd only mentioned two people.

"Yesterday, I met the girl from ten. Maureen was her name. She wasn't the strongest but she was smart. Also, I met Eric from five, but he didn't seem like the best ally." I trailed off and an awkward silence filled the air.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm thinking the siblings from six." Haymitch stood up and stepped into the dining room. He grabbed a glass out of the cabinet I didn't know was there. After pouring himself some sort of drink, he took a long sip.

I nodded, not wanting to hear what he had to say now that he was drinking.

"I'm going to bed," I said walking out of the room. "Good night."

I heard two 'good nights' from behind me.

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Alec POV

I groggily steeped out of my room. Eyes adjusting to to the light, I saw Isabelle sitting at the table eating breakfast. It was a stack of thin, round pastries accompanied by an assortment of fruits with chocolate.

My stomach grumbled. I was practically starving.

 _That's a lie,_ I thought to myself. _We we're starving back in district six. Not now. Here, we were eating more than we had our entire lives._

I suddenly noticed that Iz wasn't the only one at our table.

Ellyson, our mentor was sitting at the table also.

"Good morning, Alec," she said politely. She had such great manners, it made me feel slightly awkward around her.

"Morning," I said. Izzy seemed to be a little out of it. She wasn't a morning person, but she was barely eating.

"Now that you are awake Alec, we need to talk about possible allies for both of you."

Ellyson wore a pea green tunic and average black pants. She never dressed fancy, but you could say that she didn't have a terrible sense of fashion. It was better than what some people from the Capitol wore.

"The careers are good this year." It was the first thing Isabelle said all morning that I knew of. "Not just regular career-good. They're better than last year."

I nodded in agreement. The times I did look at them, which wasn't much, I noticed that they were better than the last few years I'd watched the televised version of the games.

"Yes. This is why we need good allies this year." Ellyson shifted her gaze back and forth between us. "Any ideas on who?"

"Most of the strong ones weren't very smart, and the smart ones didn't appear to be strong." Izzy looked back down at her food.

I added to her statement, "But the two from district twelve were good fighters. I saw Clary, and she was strong and smart so…" I wasn't really sure what else I was going to say.

"Okay, Isabelle, your thoughts on anyone else?"

"I trained with Maia from district three, but she didn't seem to want to form any sort of alliance," Izzy said. She took a few bites out of her food.

I realized that I hadn't eaten anything yet. To solve my dilemma, I shoveled food onto my plate. I took three of the thin cake-like pastries, spread chocolate on them, and added strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and every other type of berry I saw.

Devouring the food, I listened to what Ellyson said, "I understand. I formerly knew the girl's mentor. He was never one to make alliances outside his district. Said it's too risky."

Isabelle pushed her polite forward, obviously done with her food, and said, "I already hinted to Simon, the boy from twelve, that I wanted to be in an alliance with him."

"Well maybe that's why Haymitch Abernathy spoke to me yesterday, at quite a late hour I may add. He said that he wanted to have an alliance formed between districts six and twelve this year for the games."

She looked to be waiting for our response when Isabelle replied, "That's great." She gave a smile, but I could tell she was just barely processing the conversation.

I finished my food and walked to the elevator.

Today was the day that we'd be evaluated.

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Seneca Crane POV

I sat in the gamemaker's area overlooking the training area where the tributes would soon show us their skills. From a champagne flute, I dank a transparent liquid that had a chartreuse tint.

Watching the tributes was quite boring usually. I was the only one who ever paid attention too.

The boy from district one was called to come out.

 _Jonathan Morgenstern._

He took the thick jagged blade off the rack. It was about the length of his arm.

The training dummies had been set up in somewhat of a circle. Jonathan walked to the middle of the circle and began to whip the blade around.

 _He would get a good score,_ I knew that immediately.

When he was done, all the dummies were either slashed on the neck, chest, or were decapitated.

I zoned out a little for the rest of the careers.

I usually didn't care too much about them. Who interested me were the ones from the outer districts. They always had a low score or did something very interesting.

I intended to find these underdogs.

The first person to peak my interest was Alexander Lightwood from district six.

He had a way with a bow I'd never seen before. Very rare for someone to be good at archery that wasn't a career. He had hit the bullseye five times in a row.

His sister, Isabelle Lightwood, appeared to be just as well trained with a whip.

All the dummies were sliced in half with one blow. _Impressive_.

What stunned me even more was when she walked over to the large, wooden human-shaped targets.

Grabbing something out of her pocket, lipstick it was, she drew a perfect line across the middle of the body.

Isabelle Lightwood took a few steps back and lashed her whip out at it.

It cut straight through the wood, a perfect line across the lipstick.

All the gamemakers went silent on the balcony.

She walked out, and the speaker said another name.

The boy, Jace, was from district seven; lumber.

He grabbed the axe on the metal weapon holder.

After slashing through a few dummies as expected, I almost zoned out again.

 _Almost._

He turned slightly but only enough to see one of the targets.

Then the axe went flying. It hit the head of the wooden person.

Before I could process what he'd just done, he grabbed another off the rack and threw it.

It hit the wooden person's heart.

Both throws made the axe go vertical.

The next throw hit the target's neck laterally. He threw the axe with such force and grace at the same time.

I thought about those three tributes. Until the last person enthused my curiosity.

 _Clarissa Fairchild; district twelve._

I wasn't completely paying attention. She took some of the paint that was used for camouflage and started to spread it all over the wooden target.

When I looked up, she had five knives in her hand.

All at once, she threw them.

I had only noticed then that on the target it said _i will hit all the e's in this sentence._

She did. Every e had a knife through it.

I was flabbergasted. Sitting in my chair, I dropped the glass. Liquid was splattered on the ground.

None of the other gamemakers were watching her.

I pointed to the target.

Three more glasses broke that day.

 **I guess Clary knew a little more about knife throwing than she had let on to Maureen.**

 **I might be posting a little slower over the holiday season, but I'll hopefully still get a couple chapters done.**

 **Thanks for reading, please review!**


	6. The Night Before

**Sorry it's not that long, but it's the hectic holidays. Everybody wants to go and do stuff. I wrote most of this in the car driving to places.**

 **But enough about me! Here is the next chapter ;)**

Katniss POV

I stood by Gale in the area where the Games would be shown on the large screen in front of us. Right now though, it was showing just black.

I'd seen him so many times on television; too many to count.

"You knew the girl tribute, right? Clary, wasn't it?" Gale asked as we squeezed a little closer to the screen through the crowd.

"Yeah." I wasn't in the mood to say much more. Gale seemed to notice that and didn't say any more on the subject.

The screen turned a stark white and flickered into a rainbow of colors.

I despised the games, but I'd always loved seeing things on the large screens.

Though it made the cornflower sky look grayer than it already was, I still savored every moment I could see the stunning pictures of these colorful places.

Gale pulled me out of my thoughts. "It's about to start."

I nodded in response.

The symbol of Panem came up on the screen before the renown Magnus Bane came in screen. He was the Master of Ceremonies.

His black hair had small bursts of color on the front. On his hand were many rings, from gold to jade, he had it all, right by his black painted nails. There was an extreme amount of glitter on his dark colored clothes.

"Hello, Panem," he began, "Today, you will meet all the tributes for the 72nd annual Hunger Games!"

The crowd applauded. I could never understand why they were happy about people killing each other in an arena by force, but whatever floats your boat.

"Now, before we begin, I'd like to show you a short video featuring our leader, President Snow." Magnus Bane motioned to the screen behind him, and yet another image of Panem's symbol came on screen. But now, it was on the screen inside the screen.

President Snow came onto the miniature screen. He wore a fancy suit that only people from the Capitol could possibly afford. Sitting in his ornate desk, he began to speak.

"Hello, Panem. Thank you for viewing the 72nd annual Hunger Games." A slight cry of joy came from the crowd on screen.

"Even though we are still at war with the enemy,the games will still go on. We will try to keep everything as normal as possible this year. If anything does get too drastic, we will postpone anything that might get cut off. Thank you and happy Hunger Games!"

The crowd didn't seem quite happy about anything being postponed, but no one seemed to care in the group of people we stood with.

The camera zoomed out and back to Magnus Bane. "Thank you. Now, we can start meeting the tributes." More applause. "First, from district one, comes Jonathan Morgenstern!"

There was a standing ovation when he came onto the stage. The boy sat down on the red leather chair beside Magnus's.

Then the interviews started.

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Clary POV

All the tributes stood in a large blob right next to the stage. There was a black curtain blocking our view of it, but they had small televisions put around the room-like hall we stood in.

"So did you find anyone?" a voice said softly into my ear.

I turned and saw Jace in an awkward looking brown suit. I believe it was supposed to resemble a tree or wood, but I didn't see it.

He looked at me up and down. I wasn't wearing anything too revealing or elaborate. It was a simple black dress that flowed down into different shades of red, orange, and yellow. I almost looked ripped at the ends, like it was actually burning.

"Wow," he said regarding my dress.

"Thanks. The dress _is_ nice…"

"I was talking about you," I blushed as he continued, "but back to the subject. Did you find anyone?"

"Yes, two actually."

He gave a little grin.

"The siblings from six."

He nodded. "Then, after the bloodbath, meet me behind the Cornucopia." That was all he'd said to me.

Jace walked off, and I looked up at the screen.

They were on the girl from three now, Maia.

"So, Maia, for some of those extreme fans in the game, do you have anything planned for the games? Any tricks up your sleeve?" Magnus Bane looked truly intrigued

"Umm… you could say that."

She smiled. "I've got a thing or two planned."

"Well, this'll be exciting," Magnus Bane said giddily. "Now, we go to district four. Here comes the great Edward…"

I stopped paying attention when Isabelle came and stood beside me.

"Hello, ally," she said.

I turned away from the screen and to her.

"Hey."

"You nervous?"

"Yeah," I said. I wasn't really sure what else to say. "Oh, I wanted to tell you that after the bloodbath, meet us behind the Cornucopia."

"Okay," she said while nodding. Her eyes widened a little when she looked up at the screen. "I have to go on soon."

"Good luck," I told her.

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"Now, we welcome to the stage, or last tribute," a cacophony of awes was heard from backstage. "Clarissa Fairchild."

I walked onto the stage acting much more confident than I really was.

"Hello, biscuit," he said. I'd never heard anyone call me anything but Clarissa or Clary.

"Hello."

"So are you excited for the games, or are you a little bit nervous."

 _Remember, keep acting confident,_ I thought.

"I'm pretty excited." _The audience will like that. The more they like me, the more sponsors I'll get._

"That's good. So, Simon Lewis, the male tribute from twelve, says that you are very good friends. But I'd like to know more about your life in twelve. Who are you trying to win these games for?"

"My mom." I paused, "My father, he died in the mining accident a few years back. My mother and I, we've been struggling for a while now." I wasn't attempting to play the sympathy card. It just came out. "Now, I need to win for her. I need to win for us."

Magnus Bane nodded. "Thank you, Clarissa, for sharing that with us."

"It's just Clary."

"Okay, Just Clary, we only have time for one more question. Do you think you can change the way these games are played?"

I gave him a devilish smile. "Oh, definitely."

"Of course," he said. "Thank you for your time." He stood up and grabbed my hand. I also stood as he raised it. "Clary Fairchild!" The audience gave me a standing ovation and they still clapped as I left. I felt good about the interview.

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Maureen POV

I walked down the hall lioking for a bathroom. I really needed to go.

Then, I suddenly saw the first door in the long corridor.

 _Thank goodness!_ I thought to myself.

I opened the door and realized, to my dread, that it was NOT a bathroom. It was a plain old closet, but there were two people inside with wide eyes. Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood we're making out in the little closet.

"You tell anyone and your—" I didn't hear the last thing he'd said for I closed the door. I cursed myself for being rude for cutting him off, but I was a little surprised to see a famous person from the Capitol making out with a boy from the districts.

 **Note: in that last paragraph, I did not mean that Maureen was surprised to see two men in the closet, she was surprised to see two people from different social classes making out. (I know some people get offended by these things and I just wanted to clarify what I meant.)**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	7. Into the Games

**This chapter is really just going to Be how everyone got to the back of the Cornucopia (if they do) so Happy Reading!**

Clary POV

The light blinded me momentarily as I was lifted up by the circular platform.

At first, I couldn't see Simon or Alec, but I saw Izzy and Jace.

Isabelle was staring directly ahead of her at the clock. It started at thirty and went down from there. When I glanced over at Jace, he was staring right at me.

He nodded, and I repeated the gesture. We both looked at the timer.

I looked at my surroundings. There was a wooded area to the right and a small lake to the left. Directly behind me was a large mountain range. It looked to be the main terrain of the arena. Looking forward at the Cornucopia, I could see a small field that had mountains behind it. When you looked around, the mountains seemed to be the barrier, except for the one behind me which was more of a center.

The weather was humid and chilly, but not entirely cold. It was most likely around fifty degrees. **_(Fahrenheit)_**

It was at eleven now.

 _The time went fast,_ I thought.

 _9_

 _8_

 _7_

 _6_

 _5_

 _4_

 _3_

 _2_

 _1_

The cannon went off and everyone ran.

I hadn't examined the Cornucopia yet, but I looked at what it held as I ran to it.

There was some supplies in backpacks surrounding.

What everyone really wanted, though, was at the center. There was a variety of weapons and, to my surprise, fresh food. They rarely ever had food there as far as I knew.

Once I got closer, I grabbed a bag that I sling over my shoulder. There were four knives on the side, buckled on. I pulled one out and threw it at a boy with a spear, that was fast enough to get there before most of the others.

I didn't want to look at a person I'd killed, but I glimpsed at him for a mere second to verify that he was dead and to reach down to retrieve my precious knife. I wasn't sure how many I'd get.

When I reached the center of the Cornucopia, I had to throw two more knives that I didn't take the risk of getting back. Neither were killing blows, but enough to get them away from me.

Luckily, I found a machete and about twelve knives before I ran to the back of the Cornucopia, where we both caught our breath. We stood there, waiting for the others, who hopefully were still alive.

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Alec POV

I only wanted two things from the Cornucopia, a bow and quiver of arrows. It was the only weapon I could wield almost flawlessly.

 _Almost._

I had my eyes on the bow the whole time. I didn't even notice someone running at me with a small knife until they were practically on top of me. Then they were literally on top of me, and we tumbled to the ground.

I punched the boy in the face, hoping to get him off of me. The attempt was futile. He tried pinning me down, but he was much smaller than I. With effort, I threw him off me and with no weapon, I could only do that. I grabbed the bow and quiver. I shot an arrow at a blonde girl running at me. It hit her in the shoulder.

I didn't see what happened next because I was already running to the back of the Cornucopia. There I found Clary, Simon, and Jace. Not Isabelle. All I could do was hope she come soon.

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Simon POV

I wasn't a very good fighter. I knew that coming in. When the cannon blew, I bolted for the back of the Cornucopia.

It was just luck that a backpack was on the way.

I grabbed it and continued on my path to the back.

No one gave me a second glance as I ran as fast as my feet could carry me.

I was the first one to the back. Clary was next, breathing hard. I gave her a small hug, glad she was still alive.

After that Jace arrived quickly, also winded.

We waited for the others.

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Jace POV

I looked at Clary before staring at the Cornucopia. I saw a lot of weapons and food, with about nine backpacks right before it.

The cannon fired and I bolted to the center of it all.

I wanted the axe. I didn't stop to get a backpack because I saw both Simon and Clary grab one.

Once I reached the middle, chaos began to emerge.

I grabbed an axe and swung it at the first person to come near me. It slashed across her stomach and arm. It was enough that she went down.

 _Probably isn't dead yet,_ I thought, but didn't want to go back to kill her.

I looked over at the food and found a burlap sack. It seemed like a better option than carrying food.

I knew there wasn't time to get much, though. The careers would kill anyone who stayed too long.

I grabbed some fruit, but only enough for about two days at most with five people dependent on it.

There was no room in the sack so I ran to the back. I was only attacked once.

 _Lucky,_ I thought.

When I arrived, I found Clary and Simon both with backpacks; she also had a handful of knives that she put in the backpack and her jacket pocket.

There was a machete lying on the ground that I expected Clary brought.

I caught my breath and waited for the others.

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Isabelle POV

There wasn't a backpack close to me when I got closer to the Cornucopia. I decided it would be better to get a machete or sword. When I reached the bloodbath, I found whip that I thought could be useful. I grabbed it.

I wasn't paying very good attention to everything around me.

That was my first mistake.

A knife flew past me, but not with doing a little damage. It sliced a short cut on my cheek. I looked to see who threw it. There was a young blonde girl who looked too young to be in the games.

She threw another knife, but I dodged it quickly. She wasn't in range for my whip, so I walked closer to her. When she threw her third knife, I was ready.

I got down. I noticed a sword to my right. I grabbed it and kept the whip coiled in my belt at my side.

I jabbed the sword at her. It missed her abdomen, but hit her thigh.

A blossom of red appeared. The girl winced as she tried to retreat, but I couldn't stop now, I had to finish her off. She still had a knife in her hand.

I caught up to her as she fell. I plunged my silver weapon into her chest.

I mouthed the words to her. _I'm so sorry._

I didn't think I could do it anymore, but I knew I'd have to if I wanted to get to the end.

I wouldn't win, but I wanted to get Alec to the end. As long as our family got something, some help.

I closed my eyes as I pulled the sword out of her chest.

That was my second mistake.

In that moment of unawareness, another knife slashed me, this time, it made a long vertical cut on my upper left arm.

Crimson dripped down my arm. I barely winced.

Turning around, I saw the thrower.

It was one of the careers. He had porcelain colored hair that whipped around as he ran at me with a dagger and sword.

{This ain't gonna be easy,} I thought as I got my sword ready for his attack.

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Simon POV

We waited impatiently for Izzy behind the Cornucopia.

"I should go—"

Jace interjected Alec, "No." He shook his head. "No. If she's going to come, she'll come in the next couple minutes. If she doesn't come soon, I don't think she'll come at all."

It was a little harsh considering that he was talking about Alec's sister, but it was true. No one denied it.

"If she doesn't come, we'll go to the woods like we said and plan out where we can sleep." Clary was pacing. She always did when she was thinking hard.

I said, "Food won't be a problem tonight, but water will be."

"We can figure that out later," Alec said running his hands through hi hair, his quiver still strewn over his shoulder.

We waited in silence for another harsh minute when Isabelle came jogging from the front of the Cornucopia.

Blood covered her left arm.

Alec looked wide-eyed at her but she dismissed the look with a casual "I'm fine."

We all stood there while she caught her breath for a moment.

Then, it was off to the woods they went.

 **Thanks for reading!!!!**

 **Sorry for always posting at night, I usually write in the day and post at night. Sorry.**

 **Love y'all! :)**


	8. To Find Shelter

Alec POV

 **I made this chapter a little longer to make up for some of my shorter chapters**

 **Thanks for reading!!!**

 **Please review**

We ran into the woods, leaving the Cornucopia behind us. Traveling quickly through the forest, I tried to avoid small streams and tree roots on the ground.

We all slowed down when there you couldn't see anything beyond the forest.

Breathing heavily, we stopped. Simon and Isabelle sat on the ground, while the rest stood.

Once I could breathe normally again, I asked, "Iz, are you alright?"

I looked at her blood covered arm that she clutched with her other hand. "Your arm is still bleeding."

"I'm okay," she replied through clenched teeth. After a minute she said it again, "I'm okay." She seemed to be saying to herself more than any of us.

"No your not."

I looked over to Clary who was rummaging through her backpack.

"Think this'll work?" she asked holding up a rectangular piece of white cloth.

Simon and Jace nodded. She folded the cloth, and started to wrap it around Izzy's arm. Isabelle winced as Clary tied the final knot tight.

"Sorry," she mumbled. She roses and helped Iz up with a hand.

I didn't realize that Simon was already up and had his backpack on.

Clary grabbed her bag and slung it over a shoulder. "Everyone got a weapon?" Jace asked.

"Umm…" Simon didn't have one.

Clary gingerly tossed the machete she held to him.

"Now, shelter." I didn't say it in a full sentence, but they all knew what I meant.

"Near the lake would be too obvious. The careers would probably have that and the Cornucopia covered." Jace had a good point.

"What about the mountains," Clary suggested.

Isabelle seemed to agree, "They'd have protection, and if we stay close to the forest, we could hunt."

Jace added in, "And if we had a fire, they wouldn't see the light, but there would be smoke in the day."

"But what about water?" I asked.

"There'll be water," Simon announced. All of us gave him questioning looks.

 _How would he know if there's water_ , I asked myself internally.

Acknowledging our expressions, he added, "Look at the snow up there." Simon pointed to the icy caps of the mountains. "Feel the temperature. Doesn't it seem a little warm for snow. It has to be melting up there."

"It could be colder up there with a higher altitude," I contradicted.

"Yes, that's a valid point," he said, but looked to have more to say on the subject, "But if you look at the lake, you can see a river that flows into it. That river has to get water from somewhere."

"And it's getting it from the melting snow," Isabelle continued, "and the snow isn't all melting from just one point. It's melting from everywhere, so we're bound to find at least a stream somewhere. Simon your a genius!" she exclaimed, careful not to speak too loud.

"Then to the mountains we go." Clary began to walk first, and the rest of us followed.

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Clary POV

We finally reached the base of the mountains at the edge of the woods.

"We're going to have to climb," Jace declared.

I took in a deep breath and found my first foothold.

I retreated from the side of the mountain when Izzy said, "Wait, wait, wait. I can't climb a mountain."

"You are really not climbing it," I said. "All you have to do is navigate your way through the rocks. It's at like a fifty-five degree angle. You'll be fine."

"Watch for falling rocks," Jace said beginning to climb and feeling for loose rocks.

Isabelle was still looking nervous, so I reassured her, "Don't worry, I'll be behind you."

She started to attack the thirty foot climb with following behind her. Jace reached the top, put down his axe, and grabbed Isabelle's hand to help her up.

Suddenly she slipped on a loose rock about the size of a brick.

Jace grabbed her forearm with his other hand so she wouldn't fall, but the loose rock fell down at me.

It landed on my left hand, and I swore.

"Are you okay?" Jace asked with genuine concern in his eyes. It wasn't just the kind of concern that an ally would show; he seemed actually worried.

"Yeah," I said through clenched teeth. "Just peachy."

When Jace pulled Izzy up, he helped me, thankfully grabbing my right hand.

 _At least it wasn't my right hand that got hit_ , I thought. _That would have been bad._

Jace examined my hand as Izzy helped Alec and Simon up.

I could see Simon and Isabelle's hands stayed together for a few moments longer than necessary.

It was quite obvious they both had a thing for each other.

"Yeah, there's a slight chance that's going to bruise," he'd said to me sarcastically and let go of my hand.

I grinned despite my situation and replied, "You think?"

"I'm sorry, Clary. That was my fault," Izzy apologized.

"It's alright." I looked around for another path to walk down or a alcove we could sleep in.

"Guys, I can see the Cornucopia right now and everyone down there. There are five of them," Alec warned.

"Okay, then let's start moving," Simon said anxiously.

There were two paths off the small landing we stood on.

One of them led up to another small landing, but I couldn't see much further than that. The other path was a little steeper and went up about six feet, but I couldn't see what was up there.

"Should we split up and try to find something?" Isabelle asked.

"Yeah," Alec agreed. "You and Simon will go that way." He pointed to the easier trail. "And Jace, Clary, and I will go up that way."

I wasn't sure if he didn't trust us to split up by districts or he knew that Simon and Isabelle weren't the best climbers. Either way, I didn't care.

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Simon POV

Isabelle and I started the hike along the path.

There were small bushes and trees scattered throughout the mountains in the area we walked.

It was a only little bit colder than when we on the ground, but you could feel the difference.

The path was gravelly with some larger rocks and boulders.

Izzy pointed at a bush near the steep area of one of the mountainsides. "That has berries."

I took a closer look to see that it was nightlock. "No, it's poisonous. They always try put some nightlock bushes wherever they can in the games."

"Oh," she said a little disappointed. "Let's keep walking."

Only a few more feet before we saw a stream next to the path. It was small and about three feet down from path we walked on.

We continued up the path for a short time more until there was a landing before a large drop.

The drop was about fifty feet, but there were two boulders that sat near the edge. They didn't cover the whole thing, but it was good enough.

"This could be perfect!" Iz started, "There's some coverage over there."

She was looking at the niche on the mountainside that surrounded eighty percent of the flat area.

"We could have a fire in this open area at night."

"Yeah, this seems pretty good. Want to go back and wait for the others?"

She nodded.

We followed the path back to the first landing and sat down. Making small talk, we waited for the others.

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Alec POV

It wasn't hard to climb the little area of the mountainside. We all got to the top, Clary being the slowest because of her hand, but you couldn't really blame her for that.

There were two options when we got to the top. Going down a boulder-filled cliff, which didn't look as intimidating as it sounded. Or we could go up a few more feet to where we saw a few pine trees.

"Let's go up," Jace said. "If we go down, it's just a bunch of rocks and gravel paths."

I shrugged, not knowing what to do. Clary nodded. We all climbed up the boulders, watching very carefully for any loose rocks.

He was almost ot the top, so Jace threw up his axe to the top. I was happy I had a weapon that didn't require you to carry it.

When we got to the top, it was another landing full of dirt. Pine trees grew out of the ground next to shrubs and bushes that grew wildly.

I saw a sudden flash of silver as a dagger flew through the air at Jace. he ducked in time and grabbed his axe off the ground.

I pulled my bow off me and whipped out an arrow. I saw Clary grab three knives and hold them in the throwing position.

The attacker had jumped down to the rocks we had just climbed up.

Out of the blue, something heavy jumped on my back. A cloth was wrapped around my neck and pulled tight. My hands crept up around the cloth to pull it away, but I failed.

I heard a vague, "Turn around." I listened to the voice, the weight almost bringing me down.

I felt lighter as the person fell to the ground, the cloth loosening its deadly grip on my throat.

I gasped for air as I looked at the body laying sideways on the ground. She had white-blonde hair and pale skin, as if she were a ghost.

Clary looked down at Jace and the other attacker. She practically ran down the hill of rocks to help him.

I grabbed the bow and arrow I hadn't realized I dropped.

Clary was still trying to get down the hill to help him, when I pulled back the bowstring.

I watched Jace sidestep a blow. Then the perfect opportunity to strike.

The arrow went flying at the person battling Jace. It hit his temple, and he went to the ground.

I got down to both of them, still hyperventilating and said, "Let's get out...out of here before anymore...before anymore people start falling out of trees."

They both nodded and we started walking when Jace asked, "Why are you breathing so hard?"

"I may have gotten slightly attacked and almost choked to death." His eyes widened ever so slightly and appeared to ask a question as I added, "but you know, just your average day in the games."

He understood and looked back at the ground. We hiked back the rest of the way to the first landing without any other casualties.

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Jace POV

"Where were you?!" Isabelle scolded us as we came down the rocky hill.

"Just trying not to get killed," Alec said.

"I want more on that when we walk to the spot we found."

Clary exhaled loudly. "Good, because we got nothing."

Simon led the way to our new 'home' you could say. At least for now.

Alec explained the whole occurrence from a few minutes ago to Izzy. I dragged behind the rest of them.

I was staring off into space which probably wasn't the best idea. Clary came to walk beside me and I barely noticed.

"Hey," she said dryly.

"Hey." I used the same tone.

"What are you thinking about," she asked turning to look at me. Clary still held the two knives in her hand.

"Nothing," I sighed. Then I gave in. "I hate this. I don't want to kill anyone. Honestly, if I didn't care so much about getting the prize…" I trailed off, not wanting to say anymore.

"I would too," she said knowing what I was about to say. Then, trying to change the subject, she said, "So, what's life like in district seven, Mr. Lumberjack?"

"One," I said almost laughing, "don't call me Mr. Lumberjack. Two, it is quite boring, you have to cut trees everyday, everything smells like sap."

She giggled.

"What's life like in district twelve Ms. Miner."

She laughed again. "I don't mine, because I am of the female gender, so that's not even a valid nickname. And all I really do is go to school and do chores." There was something she didn't tell me, but I didn't know what.

We both stopped talking when we approached the landing that we'd sleep on that night.


	9. First Night

**Sorry it's so short! I've been busy with family lately. I'll try to post a longer chapter soon.**

Simon POV 

I had first watch with Alec.

We sat I silence while the others slept. We both leaned against the flat area on the side of the mountain near the 'entrance' to our little sanctuary. We sat on an angle where we could see the small fire we'd started and the entryway.

I wasn't close enough to the fire to feel the heat, but I hope Clary, Isabelle, and Jace were warm at least. More Clary and Iz than Jace though. I wasn't too fond of him, nor was he fond of me.

"So," I said trying to make small talk. "You and Izzy are pretty close."

"Yeah." Alec was really no help. He didn't say anything else for a couple more minutes. "I—I have an idea."

I turned to him. "Well, what is it?" I asked after a minute.

"I'll tell you, but we'll have to wait for the right moment. You can't tell the others yet."

I agreed and Alec leaned over to whisper in my ear even though the others were asleep.

When he was finished, my eyes widened. "That could work," I said.

He nodded. "I think it's been about two hours, right?" Alec asked.

"Yeah."

I nudged Clary awake as Alec did Jace.

They held their weapons and groggily stepped over to where we sat before. I laid down next to the fire by Isabelle. Her eyes flickered open a few seconds, she studied me for a moment before returning to sleep.

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Jace POV

I plopped down next to Clary against the stone wall.

It was considerably colder over here than it was by the fire.

I noticed Clary shivering ever so slightly. "You cold?"

She shook her head, but I knew she was lying. I went with it though and didn't question her.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked after few minutes of silence.

I avoided the question and said, "So is district twelve cold? I've heard from anonymous sources that it's cold."

"Anonymous?" She raises her eyebrows. "Well, they're right. It's cold for most of the year but it does get to a decent temperature in summer."

I nodded, quite bored with what we were talking about. "Your hand alright?"

"Yeah." Clary showed me the injury. "It only bruised above my thumb. Doesn't really hurt too bad."

Her hand black and blue between her thumb and index finger. It looked like it hurt. I grabbed her hand and rubbed my thumb across the bruise lightly.

After returning her hand, I asked, "What's that?"

She gave a questioning look, so I added, "The red thing on the inside of your coat."

"Oh," Clary visibly saddened when I asked. She grabbed the red object and gave it to me.

It was a crimson pin with an ebony symbol on it. The inky marks on the pin were in the shape of a diamond with two of the lines extending and curving.

"Where did you get it?" I asked handing it back to her.

"My...my very good friend gave it to me for my birthday right after the reaping."

"When's your birthday?"

"Tomorrow," she replied.

"Happy almost birthday, Clary," I said. I felt bad that her birthday would be celebrated in the arena, but you couldn't do anything to change that. "You'll be sixteen?"

"Yeah," she sighed.

"Can we take the subject off me, please?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. "Ask me anything."

"You got any family? Anyone you're trying to win for?"

"I…," I began. "No, both my parents died when I was a baby."

"You don't have anyone you care about?" she asked surprised. "You had to have someone that raised you."

"My adopted father killed some people and they executed him when I was ten," I bluntly replied.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'd always hated him. He wasn't really the best parent, but he was all I had."

"I get it. My father died a few years back. It was nowhere near the same as what happened to you, but I understand."

I nodded. We stayed quiet for a while after that.

"You hungry?" I asked standing up.

"Yes."

I didn't eat much earlier. We all only ate a few apples and oranges. It wasn't much, but it was something.

There was still a decant supply of food when I reached the sack.

I pulled out an apple.

"Can I borrow a knife?" I asked Clary.

She handed one over, and I began to slice the crimson fruit.

I gave Clary half of what I cut and kept the others.

From my hand, the apple core flew through the air over the cliff of the edge of the mountains.

We munched on the apple slices before Clary said, "I think it's time to switch."

"I'm not tired. Just go wake Isabelle up."

She nodded. "Goodnight Jace."

"Goodnight, Clary."

 **Hello again I'm sorry about posting a short chapter for y'all. I hope you liked the Clace part! There may or may not be some Sizzy coming soon. *wink, wink***


	10. Hunting

**I am so so so so so so so so so so (x500) that I am posting so late. Things are a little hectic with school and sports, but you don't want to hear my excuses. So happy reading.**

Alec POV

Birds chirped throughout the mountains. They sounded so happy.

"...because this food won't last forever. So who's going to go out first?" I only heard the last part of what Simon said.

We all sat in somewhat of a circle near the white embers of the fire from last night.

"Alec?" Clary asked, "Do you want to go?" It was slightly cold out, but I knew it'd be warmer later.

"Huh." I was quite sure what they were talking about.

"Do you want to go out to the woods to hunt with Clary?" Isabelle clarified.

"Sure," I'd said, even though Clary wasn't my first choice, I didn't mind going with her.

We both already had our weapons near us. We got up to leave when Jace whispered something to Clary. I didn't think anything of it though.

Clary and I climbed down through the mountains.

We finally got to the bottom where we had started the day before.

I crept through the wood alongside Clary.

She abruptly stopped and I almost ran into her. Bringing to her knife, she whipped it at something.

A bush shook in the distance near where she threw the knife.

Almost immediately after throwing the first one, she threw a second.

"Got it," Clary uttered.

She jogged up to where the carcass laid on the ground full of dead leaves.

Grabbing it by the ears, Clary inspected the dead rabbit.

"Not much, but something." She shrugged. Clary didn't say much, for we both knew that we'd scare any animals away in an earshot.

We stepped over a large muddy area and began to discreetly step through the trees.

I stopped, and Clary seemed to notice. She halted in her tracks.

After her giving a questioning look, I breathed one word, "Rain."

I could feel a humidity that wasn't there before.

"Soon?" Her voice was almost inaudible. I nodded and Clary asked, "Go back after the rain?"

It wasn't a complete question, but I understood it and nodded again.

I could smell the water in the air that was soon to come.

"I'll go up," I whispered after a while of wandering around finding nothing.

She didn't seem to understand at first but soon recognized that I meant the trees.

I found a tree that seemed to have low enough branches. When I reached the top, I pulled an arrow out of the quiver strapped onto my back.

Nothing happened for a few minutes. There was an eerie silence to the forest. There was not a leaf that fluttered in the treetops, not a russell of branches. Nothing.

Then I glimpsed a fiery object in the distance. No sound went along with the sudden movement.

I pulled back the bowstring ready to fire when I saw it again. This time, I could make out what it was, rather who it was.

Clary came toward the tree I'd climbed in a full on sprint. She still barely made a sound.

Her eyes were frantic. She clutched the rabbit's ears and a squirrel's tail in her hand with the rest of carcasses dangling.

 _Chungk._

A short metal and wood spear landed in the tree inches from where Clary had just ran past.

From my vantage point, I could see her go behind a tree trunk and drop the dead animals. She pulled out three knives.

I could now see her attacker, which meant, I could shoot.

It was a girl with dark skin and dark curly hair. She held a crossbow. There was a boy running beside her with hair a few shades lighter than her own. He was the one with the spears. He held two other in his left hand.

Clary stayed put as they continued to run toward her. She didn't dare make a sound.

The other two didn't seem to see where she hid.

I still held the bowstring pulled back to my cheek.

I had one shot, or else I'd give myself away gaining nothing.

They stopped running and I took the chance.

The arrow flew. It hit the girl's upper arm, but that didn't seem to affect her.

Clenching her teeth, she pulled it out.

 _Not a smart choice,_ I thought, remembering that you should never pull an arrow out.

The girl looked up at me, and we shared a glance before Clary threw a knife.

I didn't even see if it hit either of them before she released another from her grasp.

Clary went back behind the tree. The two didn't seem to see the spot the knives came from, only the direction. Only one of them hit a target. The boy's chest was covered in a dark crimson that stained all of his shirtfront.

Before I knew it, the girl lifted the crossbow and shot an arrow at me. I barely dodged it.

I attempted to get behind the tree trunk for protection, but failed. An arrow sliced my calf. I winced as I turned behind the tree, no longer visible to any incoming weapons.

What could have been seconds or minutes passed by when I saw Clary again.

She had a short lateral cut on her cheek that hadn't been there before. With a hand motion from Clary, I climbed down from the tree.

"She ran when she realized she was outnumbered. Are you alright?" She asked when she saw me limping.

"I'm fine," I said as we began the trek back to the mountains.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Maia POV

"Look," I said pointing at the fiery blob of hair.

Jordan had an evil look in his eye as we began to run towards the person.

These woods were ours. We'd already killed four trespassers. No one could stop us. Definitely not a short little girl like this one.

She was quick when she saw us coming, I'd give her that.

Jordan slowed his pace for a moment and let one of his spears fly.

 _Chungk._

It embedded itself into a tree inches from the girl's head.

Jordan and I glanced at each other quickly. That was our first mistake. The girl was suddenly out of sight. She probably hid behind a tree, but which?

We looked around to see if we could snatch a glimpse of the fiery-haired girl.

We saw only an arrow come from a tree above.

It sank into the flesh of my upper arm, thankfully, not too deep.

It was like a fire burning in my arm. I couldn't stand it, so I pulled the arrow out with my teeth gnashed.

I regretted it the moment after I did it; it hurt much worse, but I'd push through the pain. I wouldn't let it show, at least not until Jordan and I were alone.

Suddenly a knife flew out at us from the side.

It didn't hit either of us, but another one came. I didn't know who was throwing them.

Then, before I knew it, I was shooting up at the attacker in the trees, drawing blood, but nothing fatal.

I looked around to see Jordan, lying on the ground, his eyes wide, yet unblinking.

A small throwing knife protruded from his chest, where blood spilled to the ground around him.

I knew I was outnumbered and would end up like him if I didn't go now.

So I ran.

It was a cowardly thing to do, but I ran.

Hot tears rolled down my cheeks that I sweated away briskly.

I wished he hadn't gone unknowing that I didn't love him any longer.

Even though I was going to break up with him, it still hurt worse than anything I'd ever felt.

When I knew it was safe to go back to the woods, I rushed in, hurrying to make sure I'd get there before they took his body.

I sat next to Jordan and wept. Shaking as the hovercraft gasped his limp body.

I knew then, I knew that I'd have to win for him now. I was sure.

 **Review what you thought of this chapter. Good or no?**

 **I added Maia in this to make up for my late-ness.**

 **Thanks for reading even though I won't be able to post as frequently.**

 **I love y'all!**


	11. Breaking Point

Simon POV

"God, Alec, you're not okay."

"It's alright, Izzy," Alec retorted.

"Your still bleeding. Don't try to tell me you're _alright_."

Isabelle and Alec had been bickering for the last two minutes about the injury Alec sustained when hunting.

I personally agreed with Izzy on that particular subject, but no one asked me.

Alec was leaning against the stonewall of the cliff for support. You couldn't tell if you weren't standing right where I was.

I got bored of listening to the two siblings quarrel, so I strides over to where Clary and Jace sat. I shifted more towards her because I wasn't all too fond of Jace. But again, no one asked my opinion on the topic.

Still looking at Isabelle, I wasn't paying too much attention to what the two were talking about.

"...so there should be at least eleven dead." I captured the last part of what Jace said.

Clary nodded.

She had a small slash on her cheek. It wasn't bleeding which was good.

"Simon," Clary snapped her fingers in front of my eyes that were busy looking at Izzy. I looked over at her.

"Yeah."

She rolled her eyes. "Do you want to go get some water at the stream?"

I nodded, and we began to walk off.

"Do you have a thing for Izzy?" Clary asked once we were out of an earshot.

"What?!" I knew I was blushing slightly, when she glanced at me. "No." I didn't even convince myself of that.

"Pff. Liar. You do." I almost felt as if I was betraying her in some way. Because she was my childhood crush, I can't like someone new in front of her. She smirked anyway.

"Now isn't the time to think about or have crushes, Clare," I said, knowing I was right and regretting it. Any sign of joy or giddiness on her face faded instantaneously.

If it came down to it, Clary would be the one of the two of us to win. I couldn't live with myself if I won with her in second.

"You're right," she sighed.

"As always," I said trying to cheer her up. I was rewarded with a sideways grin from Clary.

She playfully punched my shoulder. She wasn't trying to punch hard, but it still hurt. She may have been small, but Clary was mighty. She had once punched a boy at our school for calling us nerds. He had a bloody nose and Clary got sent home, but it was still amazing for a third grade 'nerdy' girl to do that.

I snapped out of yet another trance when Clary breathed, "I won't be able to do it."

"Do what?" I asked.

She looked at me with wide eyes, "Kill them."

"Clary," I sighed. This was ridiculous, right? We were in the Hunger Games. How could she not, if there was a chance at her winning, _living_.

Somewhere in my heart though, I knew I wouldn't be able to do it either.

"Simon," she thought for a moment about what to say. "It would have been easier if… we didn't know them. If they were strangers who hated us and wanted us dead."

"Clary," I repeated not knowing what else to say. We'd have to do it at some point wouldn't we? It was almost inevitable. Unless someone else does it before us. Is that a terrible thing to hope? Am I cold-hearted for wanting someone else to kill them?

"It's just…I actually like them, you know. Isabelle, willing to do whatever it take to help her brother. Jace, actually caring even though he pretends he doesn't always. Alec, being so quiet and shy, yet being smarter than anyone I've ever known. How could I do it? How could I even _think_ to do it?"

I wrapped my arm around her as we continued to make our way to the stream.

We drank from the small water source and started to head back when it began to drizzle.

"He was right," Clary smiles a little.

"Who?"

"Alec. He said it was going to rain earlier. He was right," it came out of her mouth wistfully.

We walked faster and found the other hiding in the alcove, sharing orange slices.

"Who wants to go get some sticks with me before all the wood gets soaked?" Isabelle asked all of us when we entered.

"I will." I now had an excuse to be with Izzy alone for a while.

"Let's go then, before it pours."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Clary POV

Simon and Izzy walked off to collect some (mostly) dry wood.

It was quiet except for the occasional exchange of orange slices.

I hadn't eaten an orange in what seemed like ages. I'd only ever had one in my life and that was when my father was still alive and we had some money.

After he died, my mother and I could just barely get by. It helped when she married Luke because he still had a job, but we still didn't have much.

"Do you hear that?" Jace asked looking around. He stood up began to walk to the whistling sound.

I followed him.

"There!" He ran to a nearby tree with a metal container stuck in it.

Jace started to climb the tree. When he reach the area where the sponsor gift was in the tree.

He reached out but couldn't get it. Jace then attempted to move out to a thinner branch. He wasn't that high in the tree, but it was high enough to break a few bones if you fell.

"I can't get it," he said, looking down at me. "I'm too heavy, the branch won't hold."

"I'll get it." Jace climbed down. I jumped to grab onto the lowest branch and pulled myself up. From there it was easy, almost natural.

I'd climbed trees almost all of my life.

I reached the branch by the metal container. The wind blew, rustling the branches.

Slowly, I made my way out on the branch. It bent with my weight. This was surprising considering I was a small person.

I looked down at Jace, his golden hair ruffling in the wind.

It was colder now with the wind and rain combined.

It I had inched my way where I could almost touch it. It was so close. My fingers grazed the side of the metal. I tried to grab it once again, this time, knocking it out of the tree. My left hand grasped a branch next to me right for support.

Jace caught the sponsor gift as the branch broke away below me.

 **Sorry about the cliffhanger!**

 **I hope you like this chapter. Thanks for reading! Review what you thought.**


	12. The Plan Part 1

Clary POV

I gripped the branch with all I had. I had one hand holding on while the other flailed around trying to reach to the branch.

"Clary!" Jace stood at the base of the tree. "Hold on!" he said as if there was something else I'd be doing.

I kicked my foot out, seeing if I could reach a nearby branch to stand on. I couldn't.

My hand slipped ever so slightly.

Breathing seemed harder and mine came more shallow now.

"Jace?" I pleaded.

"I'm coming." I looked on an angle upward to see Jace on the same branch as I clutched.

He inched to me an the branch shook. I yelped when my grip loosened again.

"Jace." My voice was more urgent this time, more desperate.

When he came close enough to me, Jace put his hand on a close branch. His hand came down to where mine reached for the tree's limb.

I grasped his hand and held on tightly. The branch shook again as he began to pull me up. That was it. My hand that gripped the branch slipped.

Now both of my hands held tightly on his. Jace pulled me up so that I was able to push myself up into a sitting position on the limb. I shuffled down the tree as fast as possible and sat at the trunk.

Jace plopped down beside me. We were both breathing hard.

I leaned against him and put my head on his shoulder until my breathing slowed and I calmed down.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO Isabelle POV

We took the mildly wet sticks Simon and I had gathered an set them down under the coverage of the ro Potassium where the others stood.

"Anything interesting happen when we were gone?" Simon turned to Alec, Jace, and Clary for an answer.

"Oh, you know," Jace said casually. "The usual. Clary almost fell out of a tree and we got a sponsor gift."

"What?!" I exclaimed.

Jace repeated, "We got a sponsor gift."

"I heard you."

"Then, why did you as—"

I cut Jace off, "What was it?"

I was excited for a sponsor gift so soon. Some tributes never even got one.

"This weird gloopy medicine thing." Alec apparently didn't know what it was.

Clary showed it to us. "That's the universal medicine that you can use for anything from large cuts to burns," Simon informed us.

"We know." Jace looked like he didn't want to hear anything else Simon had to say.

Only then did I realize that Clary's cut on her cheek was much smaller.

"Alec?..." I asked.

"Yeah," he answered the unasked question.

Pulling up his pant leg I could see the mark of the cut. It looked slightly better than earlier, but you'd have to give it time.

"Alec," Simon said. "The plan."

Alec's eyes widened in remembrance.

"What plan?" Clary and Jace said simultaneously.

I gave a questioning look to Alec.

He started talking as we all intently listened.

He looked at us all for approval, when Jace said, "That… that is the best plan I've ever heard."

We all nodded in agreement.

"Now who's going to do what?" Clary asked.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Simon POV

We had all agreed that Alec would stay back for two reasons 1. We need someone to stay back and guard our stuff, and 2. Alec was still injured.

We decided to wait until the rain cleared up to start. Unfortunately, for us, that didn't happen until the next day.

"Rise and shine!" Isabelle yelled poking her brother until he woke.

He groggily rolled over and sat up.

"Could you have possibly woken me up a few minutes {after} the crack of dawn!"

Izzy smirked. "Now why would I possibly do that, big brother," she said sweetly.

I turned around to see Clary putting the the berries in the sponsor gift.

Jace walked over to where we all stood in the alcove. "Everyone ready?" he asked.

We all nodded and Izzy said, "Then let's go."

We hiked down the mountain and to the forest. The sun had just risen and cast a bright glow on the trees.

"This one looks good," Clary said looking at a tall pine tree. It was quite thick and you couldn't see the trunk up high unless you stood directly next to it.

"Yeah." It was Jace. "Looks good to me." He climbed the tree in less than a minute. As did Clary with another tree close by.

{That's probably why they were chosen as the tree climbers for the plan,} I thought. {Not Iz and I.}

Isabelle and I began to pile the sticks and branches we'd collected earlier. Who knew they'd be useful for Alec's plan?

By the time I came out of my daze, Iz had lit a small fire the quickly turned into a roaring flame.

"Let's go," she whispered urgently.

Then we ran.

 **Sorry it took me so long to post this! ;-;**

 **I just have a lot going on right now between sports and school. But I'll try not to leave another giant gap between posts again. Review if you liked the chapter and if you want me to write in more POVs like I did with Maia.**

 **Thanks for reading!!!!**


	13. The Plan: Part 2

**Warning, there is a little gore in this chapter. Not much, but just wanted to notify you that there probably will be, from here till the end of the games, more goriness. So yeah... :)**

Jace POV

A cloud of gray smoke rose higher as the kindling burned. It wasn't too long before I'd heard the crunching of leaves from my left.

Then, proving myself correct, two short whistles, identical to that of a bird's, came from the tree Clary was in. That was the signal; they're coming.

As far as I could tell, Alex's plan was working perfectly.

I held the metal canister tightly in my hands.

When a long whistle came from the direction Clary was in, I got the sponsor gift ready to drop.

Then came what I longingly awaited, that last short whistle.

I dropped the parachuted down to the ground. There was the ringing tune that came with the present for a moment before I heard some whisper, "Look!"

The plan was working perfectly so far. All I needed to do was stay out of sight and wait for Clary's signal that it was safe to come down.

There were mumbled from below that I could not decipher.

"Sebastian!" Someone yelled out the name of their ally that just ate the poison berries we'd put in the gift. "Helen!"

Three cannons rang through the mountains signaling their deaths.

Still waiting, I kept myself out of sight in the tree.

I almost mistook the three short whistles as a signal that the coast was clear. It was not.

Then something metal cane flying at me and embedded itself in my arm.

The three short whistles meant run.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Clary POV

Out of the four careers I could see on the ground, there was only one who didn't eat the berries.

Jonathan was his name. He looked around past his fallen comrades, his hair, whiter than snow, blew around in the sudden winds that came upon the forest.

He looked up at the tree Jace his in. I knew Jonathan saw him, for his eyes grew wide as he grabbed a knife from his belt.

It seemed as if he was glad to kill Jace.

I whistled three times, keeping them short. That would reel him there's danger.

The knife Jonathan held was surely not for throwing. It was jagged along one side and the handle was more for gripping.

Even so, he threw it hard up at the tree. When it didn't come falling down, I knew it had hit something.

But it couldn't have hit Jace. He never would have thrown it on target from that far away with so many branches in the tree.

Then came the knife, crashing back down at Jonathan through the branches of the tree. It was covered in red.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

I clenched my teeth as I pulled the knife out of my flesh. It's jagged blade ripped at my skin as I extracted it and was covered in sticky, red blood.

The silver knife fell out of my hands. It knocked off branches as it tumbled to the ground.

I gripped my upper arm with my left hand. Soon enough, I realized I needed to get out of the tree.

By then, I noticed Clary on the ground. She crept up behind the boy—though he wasn't much of a boy any longer—but, just as she pulled a throwing blade from her pocket, Clary stepped on a fallen branch. She winced at her mistake.

The boy spun around. He grabbed a machete that was hanging from his belt.

Clary couldn't defend herself from that with just a knife. Then, I looked at my own belt. My axe.

It was the perfect opportunity to get behind him like Clary tried to. _But he might be expecting me to do just that_ , I thought.

I didn't have a better plan.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Simon POV

"They've been gone a while," I said nervous for my best friend.

"They'll be fine."

"I don't know."

"Jace and Clary are both entirely capable of handling themselves," Izzy was insistent but not pushy.

"I don't know."

I couldn't help but think that there was something wrong. It's like I could feel it in my bones.

"It has been over an hour. Since you all left, that is." It was the first Alec had provided input to any of our lengthy conversations.

"Fine." Isabelle said no more sitting between us on the ground in the alcove.

"Fine what?" I asked.

"We'll go look for them."

I raised my eyebrows. I didn't think we were ever going to do that, but I didn't complain.

"No you're not." Alec's voice was stern. "They could be dead for all we know. You aren't going to go risk your lives too." He seemed to be talking more to Izzy than to me.

"I'm going," I said. I wasn't going to leave Clary there to die if she was in trouble. "If you're coming or not, I'm going."

"You're not." Alec didn't want to argue with Isabelle, but it was doomed to happen.

"Alec, I know it's a risk! But their our allies, and more importantly our friends. Now, I don't care what you say, they are our friends whether you like it or not. So, yes, I'm going with Simon! Because I would want them to help me, so I'm going to help them."

Alec was slightly taken aback by this. But, despite whatever was running through his mind right then, he nodded.

At that, Izzy and I were off.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Clary POV

With the biggest knife I had—which wasn't too large—I feinted blows from the machete Jonathan slashed at me.

I was only playing defense here. I needed to make a move, so I kicked him hard in the ribs.

Surprised, Jonathan hesitated a moment. I took the chance and hit him with an uppercut to the jaw. My blade found its way to Jonathan's stomach where it made a shallow slice.

Then, I made a clean cut from his forearm to his pinky finger. The machete fell from his hand.

Before I could think, Jonathan had somehow gotten me pinned on the ground. Much too heavy for me to do anything, I wriggled under his grip. His arm went on my neck, and Jonathan put all his weight on my throat.

The air was being sucked out of my lungs that desperately grasped the last bits of oxygen they could get. Black rimmed the edges of my vision. Things faded away.

Suddenly a weight had been lifted off me. I crawled to the nearest tree and sat up against it. My hands immediately went to my throat. Wheezing, my lungs took in all the air that fit.

I could breathe once again.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

 **So, guys, I really only have a vague outline and an ending left, so if y'all have any ideas (I know, I'm gonna get some more Sizzy in. And Malec will be toward the end, but still will be there!) please let me know! Thank y'all for reading!**


	14. The Plan: Part 3

**Hi guys!!! You don't know how infinitely sorry I am for not posting these past few months, and I'm not going to give any excuses. Here's the long awaited chapter. I hope y'all like it! :)**

Jace POV

I kicked the boy hard in the gut. He fell off Clary and rolled to the side.

I gripped my axe in my hand. It would be hard only using my left hand, but I knew I could do it if I had to.

I choked up on the handle as you would in that old game with the bat and ball.

Then it was only me swinging at him, while he dodged the blows.

When he hit me in the stomach, the boy made a run for it.

The axe flew from my hands. It embedded itself into the trunk of a tree a mere foot away from his head. Faster than I could think, I was chasing after him.

Suddenly, something thin and dark, looking almost like a tentacle of some sort, flew at the boy.

It sliced the side of his face.

I looked to see what had done that.

There standing in front of me, was Isabelle, a whip in her hand.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Simon POV

"Now that we are actually out here," I asked. "How are we gonna find them?"

"I memorized the path we took to where they're at."

I think I underestimated Isabelle's intelligence. I mean, she was strong—an amazing fighter,—and she was beautiful. God, she was gorgeous. I didn't really expect her to have it all, brains, brawn, _and_ beauty.

"Wow," was all I managed to say.

I think I liked this girl. _This girl that you'll either kill or be killed by,_ I reminded myself. I couldn't feel anything. I wouldn't feel anything for her.

"So how long have you and Clary been friends?" She asked, her voice a quiet breath.

"How long have you been Alec's sister?"

"...all my life…"

"There's your answer." My turn for a question, "What's district six like?"

"Well, you know, transportation. Nothing special. I had a pretty normal childhood. I had two parents, both worked of course. A brother who was just ever-so-slightly overprotective."

"Really?" I said in mock surprise.

"I take it you've noticed." She gave a hushed laugh. "So what was your life like in twelve?"

"There's my mom, my older sister, Rebecca, and me. My father, like Clary's, died in that big mining accident a few years ago. A lot of families lost people that day."

"I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "Don't be. It doesn't bother me talking about it anymore."

She nodded.

We walked in silence as we got closer to the spot Izzy remembered, our footsteps lighter.

Then, I saw someone running to the right of our current position. He was coming toward us, but I doubt he noticed.

I whispered it to Isabelle, and before I knew it, she was crouched down in a second. I mimicked.

Then, as if she knew he'd run right past her. Izzy pulled out her whip and lashed it at him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Clary POV

When I had finally caught my breath and the dizzy feeling ebbed, I stood up and looked around.

I had no idea where Jace had gone, but he was no longer here. I cursed at myself for not paying attention to them.

I looked to the ground to find any prints in the mud. Sure enough, I found two sets of footprints that I could barely discern.

I followed them towards the mountain. I could just barely see the valley through the thick forest when I noticed movement to the right of me.

I looked over to see Jace and… Izzy? What would she be doing here?

I jogged over to where they were.

Simon was apparently there too.

Thankfully, Alec was still at camp. Someone had to watch over our dwindling food supply.

Once they saw me I asked, "Where is he? Did you kill him?"

Jace shook his head, a sneer on his face. "The bastard got away."

"We should get back." Izzy turned and started the trek toward the mountain.

Jace and I followed. His arm wasn't bleeding anymore, but it was still a pretty deep gash. He merely had a grimace on his face.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Why?"

"If I would have warned you sooner, that wouldn't have happened." I gesture to his arm.

"He still would have thrown the knife. It still would have hit target. Target being me." He gave me a slight smirk. You wouldn't have noticed if you weren't watching closely.

"Can't you just accept the apology?"

"No."

I rolled my eyes, and once again, that thought popped into my mind.

 _How will I be able to kill these people?_

I tried to rid my mind of the thought, but it wouldn't leave. I can't kill him. I can't kill Jace. He was… he was indescribable. There was something about him. Something that was untouchable about him. How he never seemed ruffled by anything. There was a cut the size of an unsharpened pencil on his arm, yet he kept his emotions nearly unreadable. (Except for that grimace. But it seemed that was just cause by his hatred for the guy, Jonathan.)

"What's on your mind, Clary?"

I blushed as if I were caught doing something embarrassing. "Nothing." At least my voice was even.

He raised an eyebrow at me. _(Damn, why couldn't I do that?)_

"Okay, then." He looked back ahead.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Alec POV

"Are you okay?" I asked Izzy. The three had just returned to our camp.

"Fine."

"Did the plan work?"

"Got three of 'em. The other ran off before we could kill him, after he tried killing us." Clary was helping patch Jace up. From what I heard of their conversation, that other guy threw a hunting knife at him.

"Well, my plan mostly worked."

"It was a good plan."

"Thanks."

"I'm hungry," she said after a minute.

Jace seemed to have heard the statement and said, "So am I."

"Me too," Clary chimed in.

"I set some snares in the forest earlier when you all were gone. I can check them now."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Off I went to get food then.

 **I'll try to keep posting. It might have to be every other week though. Unfortunately school is starting soon, so that will be my priority, but I'll still be posting as soon as I can finish the chapters. :)**


	15. On The Run

**Hello people of earth. I hope you like this chapter.**

 **Thanks to my beta, Gigi Ray.**

 **Happy reading! :)**

Clary POV

"He's been gone awhile now."

"Iz, Alec'll be fine," Simon put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"He's right," I agreed from across the fire. "Alec has only been gone a half hour."

"But it's getting dark, and he should have come back once the sun set. I know my brother and he should be back already." We all sat around the small fire Simon had started.

"He might be on his way back. It went dark early. You can tell the gamemakers are shortening the day, for whatever reason," Simon said.

"They probably have something _big_ planned for a us tomorrow," said a sarcastic voice. "Maybe we'll get to experience the honor of hallucinating from tracker jacker venom." Jace mumbled, "They always find a way to put those damn bugs in the games."

"Well—" Simon started. A boom of thunder interrupted him.

Not thunder; a cannon.

Isabelle swallowed.

"Well, I d—" Simon started again. I gave him a look and he knew to stop talking. We've known each other so long, we knew what the other was thinking.

It was obvious Simon had a crush on Isabelle, but this was no time to make the wrong comment because of a _crush_. They were our allies, and it would be best to have them liking us.

Sooner or later, we'll have to kill someone, or they beat us to it. That was it. They kill us or we kill them. That was all it was.

I tried to convince myself I could. I repeated those thoughts in my head like a mantra, but I still didn't think I'd be able to kill them if it came to it.

I bet they wouldn't hesitate when it came to me.

"Clary?"

"Huh?" I didn't know how long I'd zoned out for.

"Look up," Simon said.

I complied and noticed the Capitol music playing in the background. There were pictures in the sky of the murdered. I didn't register the fact at first that three of those people were victims of our plan. (Really Alec's plan, but we executed it.)

I felt a little sick.

A girl's picture from district six when up when the sky exploded.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Jace POV

I watched the faces of the dead appear and disappear from the projection in the sky. I saw the girl from my district.

I didn't know Aline well, but I knew she was in love with a girl. The two had been the talk of the town for a few weeks. It was entirely unheard of for two women to be together. In my opinion, there was nothing wrong with them together. But it was _new_ and _unusual_ for people, and no one in the districts could handle any sort of change, bad or good.

Then, as her image faded and a new one began to appeared, there was a blast like a bomb detonated on the artificial night sky of the arena.

Sparks flew and the metal shell started breaking. There was a hole in our sky and rain from the outside poured through it.

Something was in the real sky, flying over the arena. Planes.

There was another explosion. This one was closer to the cornucopia.

The planes were bombing the arena. Bombing Panem.

"Guys," Simon breathed.

Clary was still looking at the falling arena sky. She found my arm with her hand and tapped my shoulder, "We need to get out of here." She wasn't looking at the sky, I realised. She was looking at the debris falling from it onto the mountain. Large pieces of metal were crashing down at the top of the mountain as the arena collapsed inward with each bomb that dropped. Small rocks tumbled down the mountain.

"Let's go." I tore my eyes away from the scene above me. "Let's go!"

Everyone scrambled up. It wouldn't be much longer before the avalanch came.

We ran down the trails we knew well by now and climbed as fast as we could.

There was an explosion directly above us. The boom resonated through the arena seeming considerably louder than the others.

"Run!" I don't recall who shouted the command, but I didn't hesitate to comply.

There was a relatively flat area just ahead of us after a small angled drop. Clary nearly caught up to me by the time I had reached it.

{Damn, she's fast,} I thought. I vaguely recalled her running fairly quick in training but never this fast. Isabelle was right behind her, followed by the lagging Simon.

I started making my way down the steep rock, when Clary slid down it like a little girl at one of those rare playgrounds. She even missed all the jagged rocks jutting out.

She waited for me so she could catch her breath a little.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Clary POV

Jace reached the bottom and we both bolted, going full-speed.

Rocks were rolling and crashing down the mountain just yards [meters] behind us.

To make sure they were alright, I nervously looked back to see Isabelle slowly making her way down the rock's face, with Simon making his way ahead of her. For someone who was such an athletic and talented fighter, Isabelle kind of sucked at rock climbing.

{Everyone has their weakness,} I guessed.

If it hadn't been for her terrible climbing skills, I would have guessed she had no flaws. I was surprised Jace showed little to no interest in Izzy. In all honesty, if I weren't straight, {I'd} probably have a crush on Isabelle. But it seemed that Jace showed little to no interest in anyone. For all I knew, Jace could like Isabelle, I just might not have noticed. The thought saddened me for some reason.

In my slight daze, I gtripped over a rock on the ground. Jace quickly helped me up and we ran to the last cliff before the forest.

The climb down was quick for Jace and I, but not for Isabelle and Simon (I had to give him some credit for being quite faster than Izzy).

I was starting to wait for them when Jace said, "Clary, we need to go."

"I-," I looked over to my best friend.

Jace gave a look that told me I might regret waiting but said nothing.

He ran off toward the valley.

It was a few moments before I heard another explosion. I didn't see anything and assumed it had occurred outside the arena like the last few, but it scared me enough to start running.

 _Simon was at the bottom of the cliff,_ I told myself. _He'll be fine._ He had toched the ground the moment before I was off.

I got out of the woods and saw Jace standing near the middle of the valley, by the cornucopia, as far away from the mountain as you could get while staying in the valley.

My speed somehow picked up at seeing him. He was watching the mountain, but now he noticed me. Jace walked around from the side of the silver cornucopia to its mouth toward me. As I ran, I noticed a small light flash behind him. Something crept out of the shadows of the cornucopia.

Jonathan. It was the one we hadn't killed with Alec's plan. And there was a dagger in his hand, the false sun's light glinting off of it.

"Jace!" I screamed, but my throat was dry. It was just above a whisper. "Jace!" I tried again. I pointed at Jonathan behind him. Jace moved to turn around, but was stopped. I saw him look down at the blade protruding from his abdomen.

 **Sorry about the cliffhanger! I'll try to post soon, but there's a lot going on with school and sports. I promise, I'll try to get it up ASAP!**


	16. At The Cornucopia

Simon POV

I saw Clary bolt once I reached the base of the mountain. I appreciated her waiting, but was glad she'd ran. Clary was going to go back to twelve. Simon didn't care what had to happen for her to come out of this, but she was coming out alive.

Moments later, Izzy landed on the ground next to her. We both ran in the direction Clary went. I certainly wasn't muscle-y but I was quick enough that I didn't fall too far behind Isabelle.

There was another bang directly overhead. Adrenaline pushed every thought out of my mind.

A giant piece of the arena's frame came plummeting down. Branches were breaking off the trees and crashing to the forest floor.

 _We have to get out of the woods_ , I thought.

I skidded to a halt as a large tree branch landed a few feet away from me. I didn't let the close call distract me. I climbed over it as fast as i could and went back to sprinting for my life. The gap between Isabelle and I much larger than before.

The clearing was finally in sight. At seeing it, my feet seemed to be carrying me faster. Exhaustion was nothing compared to my will to live right now.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Jace POV

It was like my lungs were on fire. I had sprinted most of the way to the Cornucopia. Clary was still running through the valley. Did she decide not to wait for Simon and Isabelle?

Izzy just then emerged from the treeline. Simon following behind her a few moments later. I wondered where Alec was now. Hopefully he was alive and running to the valley like a smart person.

I looked back to Clary and saw her mouth forming the shape of words, but the sound didn't reach me. She pointed to me. No, something behind me.

I began to turn to see what she pointed at.

Then there was a sharp pain my gut that radiated throughout my body.

I looked down to see the tip of a bloody dagger jutting out of my stomach.

I dropped to me knees in total agony as the blade was yanked out of my flesh. An almost inhuman noise came out of my mouth as I hit the ground.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Isabelle POV

I burst out of the forest in a full on sprint. My pace slowed ever-so-slightly once I got into the valley.

I looked ahead of me to see Jace on his knees, blood covering his shirt. Clary was running faster than anything I'd ever seen. Jace fell to the ground.

 _Shit_ , I thought. _Shit, shit, shit, shit._

Clary showed no sign of slowing down as she got close to Jace.

 _She isn't running toward Jace._

 _Clary was going toward the guy_ behind him. The guy with a bloodied dagger in his hand.

Before I even saw the knife in Clary's hand, it flew from her grasp.

 _Crap, she missed,_ I was thinking.

But his head or heart wasn't her target. No, her target was the guy's right hand. The knife embedded itself in his hand; it was thrown hard enough that it went straight through, and the tip of the blade stuck out of the other side of his hand. His dagger fell to the ground, and he yelled out in pain.

I was close now. I slowed to a jog and dropped to my knees beside Jace. Blood streamed from his mouth and down his chin. I couldn't see the gore from the wound and I was glad. There was a lot of blood, so much blood. It poured from the wound, stained his shirt, and covered the grass nearby.

 _Shit_.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Clary POV

After I impaled his hand with a knife, I was on him.

I didn't give him time to think before punching him in the throat. I went at him with the another knife from my jacket in my hand.

He parried a blow, and I attempted again. This time he grabbed my wrist and twisted.

I gripped the knife in my hand as he pinned my arm by my shoulder blade. I dropped it, but he didn't know that I grabbed another knife from my pocket with my non dominant hand. I jabbed it behind me into what was probably Jonathan's thigh.

He dropped my wrist with a grunt. Haymitch told me I was better of getting a good handful of knives from the cornucopia on the first day. He said that I'd always need a few spares with throwing knives. Little did I know, the advice was going to help me this much.

A punch connected with my jaw. I staggered back. We exchanged a few blows before I had an opening. I put my small blade straight through his throat. I yanked my knife back. Blood poured out of his mouth as he fell to the ground.

I swallowed and wiped clean the bloody knife against my pants.

I looked over to Jace. There was blood, and a lot of it.

Isabelle knelt down beside him; Simon jogged up behind her, just arriving now. She looked up to me, her dark eyes like stone. Izzy shook her head.

Jace was gone.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Simon POV

Clary clenched her teeth looking down at Jace's body.

"Ave atque vale, Jace Herondale," Izzy said, standing up.

I looked to Izzy.

"It's something we say in our family when someone dies," she answered my unasked question. "It means hail and farewell in some long dead language."

We were all quiet then. Both girls looking down at the dead friend. Was he a friend? Well, to Simon he was just an ally. Whatever he was, he deserved better than this.

No one deserved this. No one deserved to be thrown into an arena, expected to fight for your life. No one deserved to bleed out in the grass, not even that douchebag Jonathan.

(Who knows, he might not have really been douche-y. He could have been a nice guy. I'd never know. The Capitol would never know. They wouldn't even care.)

I can back to reality when Izzy asked, "Where's my brother? Where's Alec?" Panic was clear in how H.G. er voice.

Alec wasn't anywhere in sight. _This is bad_ , I thought. _Holy crapcakes, this is bad._

 **Hey, sorrry I'm late. There a lot of school stuff going on right now. I'll try to be better at posting on time. I'm sorry! But I hope you liked the chapter! :)**


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